For over a decade, the Mythbusters have been blowing everything
and anything up in the name of science. The two main presenters, Adam Savage
and Jamie Hynerman along with the build team, Tori Belleci, Kari Byron, and
Grant Imahara, have been testing out anything between common misconceptions to
the outright bizarre all to get an answer. If the myth is deemed impossible to
recreate from the evidence given, it is busted, which gives them the greenlight
to do whatever it takes to get a result they are happy with; if the myth can be
recreated by with only in a specific way, it is deemed as plausible; but if a
myth can be recreated and the result is exactly what they were looking for –
and can be done so multiple times – then it is classed as confirmed.
The more popular myths the team tests out are the ones they find
in the news, where a situation happened that many believe to be false, so they
go ahead and test it to see if the newspapers or the article on the website is
indeed true or not, however, they also collect myths from viral videos across
Youtube and other such social media websites, and even from fans who’ve sent in
their suggestions that they would like to see tested, but their most popular ‘myth
generator’ is from the feature film. Hollywood is known for bending the truth
slightly, and so they test to see if that person really was able to pull off
that incredible stunt, or if that car really was able to fly like that; no
questions are left unanswered.
If, after they have fully tested a certain myth and their fans are
disagreeing with their results, the team will go ahead and retest the myth with
any suggestions from the fans on how to get a better or the result they were
looking for in the first place. There has been a couple of times throughout the
show that they have gone back and retested a myth because they believe they
have gained a lot more experience than what they had last time to really crank
up the tests and get the results.
Due to the show now being in its final season, I thought it was
the right time to talk about my top 7 favourite episodes. I will be listing
what experiments they did in each episode but I won’t be giving away any of the
results as they may be surprising.
Number 7:
Youtube Special – 2009 Season
The Mythbusters test myths taken from viral videos as seen on
Youtube, including the match bomb, where if Adam and Jamie were to ignite
30,000 match heads it would create a huge fireball and if a car tire was spun
so fast, would the friction generated from it set it alight, and if Grant Kari
and Tori were to build a giant Lego ball completely out of Lego to see if it would
roll down a hill without breaking.
While this may not be the first episode to feature a myth taken
from a video clip, this is certainly the first episode to feature nothing but
video clips. The original viral videos does leave you scratching your head
wondering if what you saw was real or not, but you don’t have to wonder anymore,
because the answers are all jam-packed into this one episode.
Number 6:
Duct Tape Hour 2 – 2010 Season
Can Adam and Jamie built a bridge with nothing but Duck Tape, can
Grant a Tori reassemble a car that has been torn apart by Kari, can Duck Tape hold
keep a car suspended in mid-air, and can Duck Tape stop a car travelling at
60mph?
This is the second of many duct tape specials the team have made over
the course of the show and while each episode feature Duct Tape does go one
better than the one previous, I picked this episode in particular because this
is the second special featuring nothing but the power of Duck Tape. I mean,
Duck Tape must be a powerful and versatile product if they have to pick it up
again to see if they can do anything else with it.
Number 5:
Plane Boarding – 2014 Season
What is the best and most efficient way to board a place? Adam and
Jamie tests various different ways with the help of a group of fans of the shows
acting as volunteers. Whilst they are doing that, the built team are testing if
someone can really catch a bullet in their teeth.
Boarding a plane shouldn’t be a stressful experience, yet it is
because we simply do not know who is allowed to board first, whether it is the
people who pre-booked, the people with new-born babies, or anyone with a first
class ticket. We simply do not know, so we all go at once instead and then
spend a long time being processed before finally being able to board the plane.
I was quite surprised when they showed the results of their experiments. The
reason why I am putting this episode here, is simply because this episode can
be used to help an everyday event in some way.
Number 4:
James Bond: Parts 1 and 2 – 2008 Season
In the first episode, Adam and Jamie test to see if an electromagnet
hidden in a wristwatch can deflect bullets and if a speedboat can land safely
and continue driving after jumping off a ramp, and the build team test to see
if a person can shoot a propane tank with a 9mm and make it explode.
The second episode featuring myths from the James Bond movie
franchise, saw Adam and Jamie testing to see if a Ballpoint pen bomb can be
used to completely destroy the top half of a mannequin, and if a person can
actually use a set of metal teeth to bite through a cable car’s cable, and the
build team test to see if a statue’s head can be knocked clean off with a metal
brimmed Bowler hat.
The James Bond franchise stretches over 5 decades, so it doesn’t
surprise anyone that it comes with its fair share of moments that leave you aghast.
Of course, they are films and so aren’t meant to be taken literally, but it
doesn’t stop you wondering if there is a hint of possibility in there somewhere.
How cool would it be if they turned out to be true?
Number 3:
Airplane Hour – 2007 Season
Another episode featuring planes, but this time, it is completely
devoted to them instead of just focusing on one myth. This time, Adam and Jamie
test to see if an untrained passenger can land a plane via instructions from
the air traffic control center – this myth is based on the movie, Airplane. The
build team test a number of myths which focuses on skydiving: Whether you can
have an audible conversation whilst skydiving; whether a person can freefall
for a certain amount of time before opening their parachute; and if someone
jumps out of a plane, can someone jump out after them and catch them before
they hit the ground.
The odds of the first myth actually happening is very unlikely, but
if it were to happen, it would be nice to know if it is possible, and if you were
to go skydiving for the first time, having the knowledge of what will happen during
may help you, but if you don’t fancy skydiving at all, then you can simply sit
back and enjoy the episode.
Number 2:
JATO Rocket Car: Mission Accomplished? – 2013 Season
There is a valid reason why there is a question mark in the title.
This is the first ever myth Adam and Jamie ever tested on the show, and the
result wasn’t what they were expecting. Everything went right, but it didn’t go
right. Now, ten years on, they have accumulated many more years of experience,
so they decided, to celebrate ten years of mythbusting, to go back to the very
beginning and retest the myth that got away. Now, with many more hands, they
were able to go bigger and better with making sure that everything would work
as planned so they can get that one last definitive answer that they have been
searching for, for ten years.
Throughout the entire episode, you can clearly see how much they have
grown since the beginning. They are a lot more comfortable within their own
shoes meaning they know exactly what they are doing. All they want is for a car
to fly like a rocket into a side of a mountain. How hard can it be?
Number 1:
Tanker Crush – 2016 Season, and Hollywood Car Crash Clichés
That’s right, I’ve picked two episodes to be joint first place. I
did so because I couldn’t decide between them. I thought about putting one of
them as number 2, but in the end I decided they were as equally as good.
The first episode features Adam and Jamie fill railroad tanker with
steam, seal it up and see if it crushes under its own pressure. They spend the
entire episode trying various ways to make it crush. I will give away the end
result: It’s Busted. They cannot make the crush under its own pressure. But
that doesn’t mean they aren’t ever unsuccessful. They do eventually and the end
result is so satisfying to watch, I could watch it over and over again without
ever getting bored. A giant piece of metal such as that tanker suddenly being
flattened with nothing but the power of pressure is unbelievable. I cannot
imagine what it would look like if I was actually standing there, waiting with continuously
growing intensity when any second the entire think could collapse.
Throughout its entire run, there is only one other episode, in my
opinion, that ends with an incredible satisfying result and that is, the
Hollywood Car Crash Clichés, in which Adam and Jamie tests whether a car can crash
through a sheet of class without injuring the two people carrying it, and if a
truck travelling a high speed can plough through two lanes of traffic. The
build team test whether a vehicle will flip over when being blown up instead of
just staying where it was.
The experiment featuring the truck and the traffic jam ends with one
of the best conclusions to an episode they’ve done. It’s yet another episode
that I could watch over and over again, just for that one moment.
Thanks for reading
Antony Hudson
(TonyHadNouns)
My book, Sector 22: Zoey, is now available on Amazon, eBay, and SkyCat Publications' website:
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Ask me anything at:
ahudsonpresents@live.co.uk
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